A/72/275 “The cities of our dreams”, 9 a child-friendly version of the New Urban Agenda. 10 The publication calls for the creation of happy urban spaces where children are safe and protected from violence, enjoy their rights and feel included, and where their voices are taken into account. C. Honouring the pledge to leave no child behind: children on the move 46. The past few years have witnessed growing numbers of children on the move, alone or with their families, within and across countries. Every minute, 20 people are forced to flee their homes as a result of violence, persecution or conflict. In 2016, children constituted more than half of the total refugee population, and more than 75,000 asylum claims were lodged by unaccompanied or separated children. 47. More often than not, a child’s decision to leave home is an escape strategy to secure safety and protection and in the hope of reaching a safe haven from violence and exploitation, political instability, conflict and natural disasters. For children on the move, violence infuses daily life, fear and insecurity is widespread and impunity prevails. 48. Children on the move may witness horrific scenes: the killing of their parents, the rape of their sisters or the forced disappearance of friends. They are exposed to street crime and community violence, systematic extortion and harassment by gang members within their school or neighbourhood. In some cases, children are manipulated by elements of organized crime and forced to take part in criminal activity, including by acting as lookouts in places where drugs or arms are trafficked or where smugglers congregate. If children refuse to cooperate, they may pay a heavy price. Marginalized children in such communities are locked into a vicious cycle of exclusion, stigmatization and violence, as they come to be perceived as criminals themselves, feared by members of their communities and at times treated as criminals by the authorities. 49. Surrounded by such a devastating reality, children feel ready to embark on a perilous journey of uncertainty in the hope of finding a place of safety. 50. These children frequently fail to benefit from the protection to which they are entitled. They can be perceived as interlopers rather than vulnerable victims at risk. They may lack proper documentation or not speak the local language. For the most part, they are simply too frightened to report incidents of abuse or to speak about the trauma they have endured. They do not seek help out of fear that it may have a negative impact on pending decisions regarding their status, or that it may expose them to arrest or deportation. 51. Many children end up in crowded facilities, often together with adults who are not family members. They may find themselves in places with fast -track proceedings, and face a high risk of fast-return proceedings in which their best interests are hardly considered, along with an increased chance that they will be returned to the situations from which they have fled. 52. The threat of deprivation of liberty is high. Children may be detained allegedly to secure their protection from the risk of disappearance or traffic king, for the purpose of family tracing or in order to consider the options for return to their __________________ 9 10 8/18 Dora Bardales, “The cities of our dreams: a safe and child friendly New Urban Agenda” (September 2016). Available from http://srsg.violenceagainstchildren.org/sites/default/files/ documents/docs/thecityofourdreams_ENG.pdf. http://habitat3.org/wp-content/uploads/NUA-English-With-Index-1.pdf. 17-13267